The present invention relates in general to an electrical control circuit, and more particularly to a control circuit for an electrically operated garage door or the like.
Presently, garage door openers include remote control units (transmitter and receiver), wall push-button switches, and outdoor wall key switches. Stanley Vemco of Madison Heights, Mich., manufactures and sells a garage door opener that includes a radio receiver and a transmitter. A pushbutton is actuated manually for opening and closing the garage door. Sears, Roebuck and Company of Chicago, Ill., has sold a garage door opener in which a transmitter button controls the opening and closing of a garage door, and a digital code is selected for controlling the opening and closing of a garage door. Chamberlain Manufacturing Corporation of Elmhurst, Ill., manufactures and sells an automatic garage door opener that employs a radio receiver, transmitter and push button for controlling the opening and closing of garage doors. The Alliance Manufacturing Co., Inc. of Alliance, Ohio, manufactures and sells a garage door opener in which the transmitter button is actuated once to open the garage door and twice to close the garage door.
In the November 1980 issue of Popular Science is an article entitled "Electronic Garage Lock You Can Build In 30 Minutes" by Chris Propst, page 121, in which there is disclosed an electrical push button lock for a garage door in which the door opens only when active buttons are actuated simultaneously.
The patent to Gloor, U.S. Pat. No. 3,349,559, issued on Oct. 31, 1967, for Foor-Operating Apparatus discloses a pneumatic carpet placed in front of a door. The pneumatic carpet includes a chamber that has a pressure responsive diaphragm. When the carpet is walked on, the pressure responsive diaphragm actuates a pneumatic switch to control an electrical circuit for the opening of a door.
In the patent to Cook, U.S. Pat. No. 3,783,556, issued on Jan. 8, 1974, for Door Control System Providing Automatic Delayed Door Reversal, there is disclosed a treadle switch operated in response to a vehicle travelling over a hose. The treadle switch operates a relay to initiate a door opening cycle. The system also employs manually operated switches. Several of the switches are manually operated to close the door or to open the door. In addition, the system employs delay circuits and delay relays. The patent to Cook also discloses both the use of a treadle switch and a photocell. The treadle switch is operated by the movement of a vehicle thereover and the photocell changes its state in response to the movement of the vehicle interrupting the light beam. The garage door closes following the actuation of the treadle and the garage door closes when the photocell reacts to the movement of the vehicle.
As for the patent to Abbondante, U.S. Pat. No. 4,013,851, issued on Mar. 22, 1977, for Vehicle Detection Apparatus, it discloses a tire ramp with elongated electrical switching sensors. Movement of a tire over the ramp results in the actuation of the electrical switches.
In the patent to Serizawa et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,396,252, issued on Aug. 6, 1968, for Electrical Surface Switch Having Improved Bias Means, there is disclosed an electrical surface switch comprising overlying flexible contact sheets made of conductive material. The sheets are normally biased away from one another by resilient fibers. When an applied force brings the spaced apart sheets in contact with one another, electrical connections are made.
The patent to Mueller et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,232,354, issued on Nov. 4, 1980, for Electrically Actuated Lock For A Door Or Similar Access Means discloses a door unlocking arrangement in which a multiple number of data bits are introduced in a given sequence into a plurality of series connected flip-flop circuits. Each flip-flop circuit is operable one at a time and in sequence to cause the unlatching of a door. The application of a coded arrangement for a garage door opener is suggested in the above-cited publication of Popular Science, November 1980.
The patent to Willach, U.S. Pat. No. 4,129,212, issued on Apr. 10, 1979, for Electrically Encoded, Electrically Controlled Push-Button Combination Lock discloses an encoding circuit for the energization of an unlocking solenoid. The circuit includes a memory for storing the code. A comparison circuit is connected to the memory to compare a series of switch operation of selected binary words with the stored code of binary words. If there is a match, the unlocking solenoid is energized.
Other patents of interest are:
Braun, U.S. Pat. No. 3,608,242, issued on Sept. 28, 1971 for Door-Operating Mechanism;
Trombly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,207,555, issued on June 10, 1980 for Lock System.